Dark Horse
by Pippa's Fiction
Summary: Elena has been secretly in love with her boss Stefan Salvatore for years, but when Stefan starts dating one of her best friends, Elena needs to find a distraction. Who better than Stefan's womanizing brother Damon? At least she's not at risk of falling for him and it might just finally grab Stefan's attention... DELENA/AU
1. Chapter 1

"Shit!"

I cursed as I grabbed my dresser and steadied myself from nearly falling on my ass trying to yank up my panty hose. A few too many times hitting the snooze button on my alarm had left me running late for work and trying to get dressed like a crazy person. After finally getting them on without causing injury, I threw on my black pencil skirt and red blouse and slipped my feet into my comfiest nude heels before pulling my long dark hair back into a casual ponytail and applying makeup in record time.

This wasn't the first time I had run late for work, in fact I run late more mornings than not, therefore I had gotten pretty good at getting ready quickly. I tried to look my best for work but my hatred for mornings often left me looking a bit bedraggled.

I headed to the kitchen and hit start on the coffee maker. I could cut many things out of my morning routine when I needed to but coffee was not one of them. As the machine began whirring to life I heard the front door open and turned to see my roommate, Bonnie, kicking off her running shoes. She hit the door with her petite hip, slamming it shut.

"Hey, Elena," she said breathlessly, pulling her short black hair off her sweat glistened neck and walking over to join me in the kitchen. She grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and gulped half of it down.

"Morning." I replied, tapping my foot and willing the coffee machine to hurry up.

"You running late again?" she asked.

"As always," I mumbled. She smirked at me before grabbing an apple out the bowl on the counter and taking a bite. "What are you up to today?" I asked her.

"I've got rehearsals this morning, so I thought I'd get up early and work up a sweat." Bonnie's a dancer, and an amazing one at that, but trying to make it as a dancer in New York City isn't easy, even for the good ones like Bonnie. She'd just landed a job as a backing dancer in a music video, I'd never heard of the artist, Tyler Lockwood, but she assured me that his debut single, 'Hybrid' was so awesome that it would be a hit right away.

"Are you working tonight?" Bonnie also worked part time at The Grill, a bar down town. As much as she loved to dance, the jobs were hit and miss and living in a New York apartment meant having to pay the rent.

"Nope," she said popping the 'p', "I'm free as a bird." She took another bite of her apple and licked the escaped juice off her lip. "You fancy going out and celebrating tonight?"

I raised my brow, "what exactly are we celebrating?"

"Friday," she shrugged, "and the fact that we're young and hot!" She raised her water bottle in a mock toast.

"Sure," I giggled.

The coffee machine finally clicked off and I grabbed my travel mug to make it up. Bonnie passed me the milk from the fridge and I added it and a little sugar before popping on the top.

"Have a good day sweetie," Bonnie said pushing off the counter, "I'm gonna hit the shower, unlike some people I don't enjoy being late for work." I shot her an annoyed look and she flashed me a toothy grin.

"Here," she threw me another apple out of the bowl. "You need to eat in the mornings, most important meal of the day and all."

I put the apple into my purse before slinging it over my shoulder and grabbing my coffee. "Whatever you say, mom".

"See you later," she called walking towards her bedroom.

I left the apartment and jogged down the concrete stairs and out onto the street. The city was bustling with fast-paced people charging off in every direction, narrowly dodging each other just like the sea of cars noisily crawling along in the rush hour traffic. I took a gulp of my hot coffee and stepped out onto the sidewalk, immediately getting swept away in the stream of New Yorkers. I moved to New York five years ago for college and loved it so much that I had decided to stay. It was far away from the quiet life of Mystic Falls, Virginia, where Bonnie and I had grown up, but there was nothing left for me in Mystic Falls, even my younger brother, Jeremy, followed my move to the Big City as soon as he could.

Twenty minutes later I was free from the bustle of the street and slipping through revolving doors, I flashed my badge to the security guard and managed to leap into the elevator before the doors closed. I hit the button for the 33rd floor and squeezed into a tiny slot in the back of the packed car. The elevator stopped a few times letting others off at their destinations before whizzing me up to the top floor, the car slowed to a halt and the doors slid apart with a ding. I stepped out onto the shiny hardwood floor and headed towards my office, my stilettos clicking loudly on the polished slats as I walked.

The receptionist, April, was perched in her usual spot behind a huge mahogany desk, nail file in hand and talking to someone via a headset that wrapped around her right ear. She sat beneath huge letters that covered the wall behind her – 'Salvatore & Co'.

The Salvatore business owns everything in the leisure industry from hotels, restaurants and club chains, to brands of vodka. I'm fairly certain that The Salvatores' have plans to take over the world because the company has spread like wildfire over the past few years, opening new brands and offices all across the globe. The company was founded by Guiseppe Salvatore and passed down several years ago to his two sons, Stefan and Damon, or as I like to call them, my bosses.

April looked up from her nails as she saw me approaching and flashed a pretty smile. She said something to the person on the line and hit a button on her keyboard effectively ending the call. She glanced up at me with big blue eyes before spinning around in her chair and grabbing a pile of papers from behind her and returning back to face me.

"Hi, Elena," she grinned handing over the mail.

"Morning, April," I took the papers from her hand and couldn't help but smile back at her. April's a cute little thing, long dark hair similar to mine, bright blue eyes, a couple of years younger than me and always wears a warm smile. She'd worked at Salvatore & Co. for about seven months now and we'd hung out a few times, going for the occasional lunch and girls' night.

"How are you today?" I asked her.

"I can't complain. It is almost the weekend, right?"

"Well, that's always a bonus," I laughed. "Me and Bonnie were thinking of going out for drinks tonight, you up for it?"

"Sure, sounds awesome. Mind if I bring Rebekah along too?" She asked raising her brow. Rebekah is April's flatmate, a pretty blonde who moved here from England a few years ago. I'd met her a few times and she seemed nice enough.

"Go ahead, the more the merrier!"

Her phone started ringing again and she jokingly rolled her eyes before clicking a button on her headset. "Good morning, Salvatore and Company, how may I direct your call?" I held my fist up to my face in the universal symbol for phone and mouthed that I'd call her later. She nodded in agreement. "I'm afraid Mr Fell isn't in the office yet, can I take a message?" She said as I turned my back and headed off towards my desk.

I passed through the finance department before reaching the plush leather sofas and coffee table that made up a small waiting area, complete with a water cooler and a fancy fish tank swarming with tiny multi-coloured tropical fish. My desk was just beyond it and I quickly dropped my purse underneath before powering up my computer. I grabbed the fish food out of my desk draw and dropped a few flakes through the hatch and into the water before taking the mail from April through to my boss's office.

I reached the glass door embossed with the name 'Stefan Salvatore', my boss and senior manager of Salvatore & Co. I pushed open the door and walked through the large pristine office over to the wide windows where I rolled back the blinds to a stunning view of Manhattan. Working on the top floor of a New York skyscraper did have its perks.

I dropped the mail onto the desk and caught sight of the framed photograph sitting next to the keyboard. Stefan looked up at me with his bright, gleaming green eyes, his mousy hair was perfectly coiffed and he was showing off his white teeth with a playful smile. Stefan is a good looking guy, funny, young, a great boss, and I am completely and madly in love with him.

I scowled in jealousy at the arm draped around his shoulder by the beautiful leggy blonde. Lexi may be his ex-girlfriend but that doesn't mean I don't envy the fact that she got to experience the deliciousness that is Stefan Salvatore - even if it didn't work out. The couple had broken up four months ago, yet her picture still took centre stage on his desk, clearly he still had feelings for his high school sweetheart. Now I was just waiting for the day he'd move on and realise that the perfect girl for him sat outside his office and answered his calls all day.

I'd worked at Salvatore & Co. for two years now, it was my first job fresh out of college and ever since the day I set eyes on Stefan Salvatore I knew I was a goner. As cliché as it may sound, it was love at first sight, I have no idea how I even got the job seeing as all I did throughout my interview was gawk at him like he was Ryan Gosling.

I let out a soft sigh and dragged my eyes away from his beautiful face, I turned on his computer before leaving the room and closing the door behind me. I sat behind my desk and quickly pulled the compact and lip-gloss out of my purse, I applied a fresh layer to my lips and then reworked my ponytail so that it looked like what I hoped was 'stylishly messy'. I know it probably didn't help much but I liked to look good for Stefan, especially after my frequently hurried mornings.

I was still trying to fix my hair in the mirror which I'd propped against my computer screen when I heard the clearing of a throat from above me. My head shot up to see Stefan standing over me from the other side of my desk. He had a Starbucks in hand and wore a fitted grey suit which I knew would be hiding deliciously chiselled abs, he wore a crisp white shirt with a black tie and a smirk graced his kissable mouth. I felt the blood rush to my cheeks and I fumbled grabbing the compact and shoving it in my desk draw, accidently slamming my thumb in the process.

"Morning, Stefan!" I said way too enthusiastically, bringing my thumb to my mouth and sucking on it to ease the sting.

"Good morning, Elena." He said with a soft smile, eying the finger which I was sucking. I quickly yanked it out and hid it beneath the table, he chuckled and took a sip of his coffee. God, what I wouldn't give to be that paper Starbucks cup right now, those pink lips wrapped around mine…I shook my thoughts away and cleared my throat.

"Your mail is on your desk and don't forget you have the management meeting at ten."

"Thanks, Elena." He said, smiling at me again. God, I just wanted to kiss it right off his face! I watched as he made his way into his office and let the door click shut behind him.

I could see him through the clear door settling into his big leather chair and logging on to the computer system before he began to riffle through the pile of mail. I loved that I could see what he was doing all day, but it also meant that on more than one occasion he had caught me looking. I'd had to quickly teach myself to actually get on with my work and stop staring like a love struck teenager before he fired me for being a stalker.

I jumped straight into my usual morning tasks of answering the phone, replying to emails and sorting out Stefan's accounts from the week. At around 9:45 I answered the ringing phone with my overly rehearsed, robotic greeting, "Stefan Salvatore's office, this is Elena speaking."

"Ellen, tell Stefan we're pushing the 10 o'clock meeting back by an hour." Ah, the standard rude and minimalistic order from Damon Salvatore, Stefan's older brother and Director of Salvatore & Co. He had referred to me as 'Ellen' for the past two years now, no matter how many times Stefan and I had tried to correct him.

"Good morning, Mr Salvatore. I'm afraid that won't work for Stefan, he has a meeting with marketingat 11:30." I replied in my politest tone.

"So push it back."

"The meeting has already been moved twice now Sir, I'm not sure that Stef-"

"I don't care if it's been moved twice. Move it again." He snapped.

"Let me check with Stefan, Mr Salvatore, I'll get back to you as soon as possible." My finger hovered above the hold button on my phone. It always gave me great pleasure to put Damon Salvatore on hold.

"Put me through to him," he demanded. I wasn't going to argue with him anymore than that, he was still technically my boss's boss after all. I pressed the button for Stefan's line and saw him glance at his phone and put it to his ear before meeting my stare through the door.

"It's your brother on the line, he says he wants to push back management. I told him you had other plans, but he insisted that he speak with you." I rolled my eyes jokingly at him through the glass.

"Thanks, Elena." I put down my phone, connecting Damon through and watched as Stefan clearly had exactly the same conversation as I just had. I smiled to myself and turned back to my emails.

A few minutes later I heard the door next to me open and the object of all my desires strolled out. He'd lost his jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, in what I'm sure is a sign of a stressful conversation with Damon. Being the elder brother, Damon had been given more control over the company, his authority combined with his stubborn nature meant he always got his way around here, as I'm sure he does in his personal life too.

"Elena, can you please call Rose and reschedule our meeting for this afternoon? And these files need to be taken up to Damon." He dropped a stack of folders on the edge of my desk and turned around to walk through our waiting area. I shot his back a sympathetic look and watched his ass flex as he strolled away from me and out the room.

I stood from my desk, clicked on the voicemail option on my phone and smoothed down my skirt. I collected the 'Viper Vodka' files up from the end of my desk and began making my way across the building to Damon's office.

I entered into a similar waiting area as my own, only bigger. The furniture was all dark wood and black leather with cream walls and plush carpets. Andie sat behind her desk to the left of a dark wooden door which held a plaque that read, 'Damon Salvatore, Director'. Andie is Damon's PA, she's a few years older than me, tall and slim with shoulder length caramel hair that framed her perfectly symmetrical face. I don't think I'd ever seen Andie smile, not that I could blame her, I imagined that working directly for Damon Salvatore would drain most of your happiness.

"Elena." She acknowledged me with a singular nod of her head without ever taking her eyes off of her screen.

"Andie." I replied in the same way, "I have some files for Damon, is he free?"

"Try knocking."

"Ok… So, last week, huh?" I had been informed by Stefan last Monday that Andie had handed in her two weeks notice. I hoped that her replacement wouldn't be as much of a bitch.

"Yep."

"You excited?"

"I guess," she shrugged, still staring at her screen with her fingers flying over the keys.

I admitted defeat. That was the most conversation I was going to get out of her. In a way I felt sorry for Andie, we had something in common in the fact that we were both blatantly in love with our bosses. At least Stefan wasn't a self-confessed womanizer who fucked anything in a skirt. I figured that was the reason behind her departure, which I could understand. I knew from first-hand experience that unrequited love was a bitch.

I made my way to the dark ominous door knocking strongly three times. I heard no response for a few moments and was raising my hand to knock again when I heard the deep, slightly husky voice tell me to come in via the intercom hooked up to Andie's desk. I pushed open the door and stepped into Damon's office.

The room was huge, following the interior of the waiting area outside with spotless cream walls, plush carpet and dark furniture. The right hand side wall was made up of tinted glass windows overlooking a stunning view of the city and the opposite wall held a huge flat screen, fit for a movie theatre, which I assumed was used for video conferences. Next to it was another seating area similar to the one outside and beyond that, a built-in bar which held all the Salvatore branded bottles. Despite the beautiful interior of the room, my eyes directly found the most impressive feature – in front of me Damon Salvatore sat behind a vast, dark mahogany desk, leaning back casually in his leather chair and looking right at me.

He slowly let his eyes roam from mine and down my body, paying special attention to the tops of my breasts that were slightly exposed by my low cut, red button up blouse, and my legs that looked especially long thanks to my high heels. I felt naked under his stare and awkwardly shifted myself in a futile attempt to pull my shirt together. He lazily rolled his gaze back up to meet mine, flashing me a sinful smirk, his light blue eyes were knowing and filled with amusement as he leant forward to rest his elbows on the desk.

"Ellen."

"Elena, Mr Salvatore." I corrected him and stepped towards him to hand over the files.

I felt uncomfortable under his gaze and so avoided making further eye contact and pulled at my skirt. When I handed over the papers our fingers brushed and a shiver ran up my arm. I knew he did it on purpose, Damon Salvatore was god's gift to women and he damn well knew it. He could make any girl putty in his hands just by looking at her. Shame he was a dick. Although I only had eyes for Stefan, I could more than appreciate Damon's devilish good looks. He was classically handsome, raven black hair that always had that just fucked look, a strong jaw and hypnotizing blue eyes. He was wearing a charcoal suit, perfectly tailored to his muscular body with a white shirt and baby blue tie that matched the colour of his eyes perfectly. The Salvatores sure knew what they were doing when it came to making beautiful babies.

I pulled my hand back and hastily made my exit, I may agree that Damon was an Adonis and almost definitely amazing in the sack, but I didn't have any interest in being one of his easy lays, especially not when I was holding out for his brother, however pathetic that may seem. I could feel his eyes on my ass the entire time, practically burning through my skirt. As if by natural instinct I felt my hips sway more provocatively as I walked away. _Damn hormones_. The door fell shut behind me and I let out a sigh of relief, I always felt like a gazelle walking into the lion's den in there.

I headed to the kitchen to grab me and Stefan some coffees before heading back to my desk and getting stuck into work for the rest of the day. By the time 5 o clock rolled around I had gotten all my jobs done for the week and was ready to get home early and start the weekend.

I checked in with Stefan before I started packing away. "Hey boss, anything else you need from me before I leave?"

He looked up at me from the contract he was reading and smiled. "No, get yourself away Elena. I'm going to head off soon too."

"Ok." I nodded my head and began to make my exit.

"Any big plans this weekend?" He asked, making me turn back around.

"Err…just a quiet one, I guess. I'm going out with some friends tonight."

"That'll be fun. Where are you going?" I didn't know why he was so interested in my plans but I sure as hell wasn't going to argue with it.

"I'm not sure yet. We'll probably end up in Serpents, that's what usually happens anyway." Serpents was one of the Salvatore's most popular clubs and mine and Bonnie's personal favourite. The queue jump and discount card that came with being a Salvatore employee didn't hurt either.

"Huh." He rose a brow and flashed a small smile. "Maybe I'll see you there."

"Y-you're going?" God dammit why did my voice have to tremble like that?

"Yeah. My cousin just got engaged so we're going out to celebrate." My belly fluttered with butterflies at the thought of seeing him out of work.

"Awesome!" I said way too loud. I inwardly cringed."So maybe see you later?"

"Sure." He flashed his beautiful smile at me one last time and I felt those damn butterflies come back full force. This time when I turned to leave he didn't stop me.

I passed April tidying up her desk as I left and stopped to make plans that we'd meet at The Grill at 9. On my way home I was fidgety and nervous the whole way. What the hell was I supposed to wear now that I knew Stefan was going to show up? This was the perfect opportunity to show him fun, sexy Elena, not boring work Elena. I wanted him to see me and have to double take, look at me in a way he never had before and want me so badly that he takes me home and rips the clothes off of my body.

I had no appropriate outfit for this situation.

I returned home to find Bonnie sprawled out on the couch plucking her eyebrows in a hand-held mirror and singing along to the N*Sync track blasting from the stereo. I kicked off my shoes, disposed of my purse and headed for the couch. She lifted her tanned legs up allowing me to plop down before resting them back over my lap.

"How was your day?" she asked, pausing her grooming to look up at me.

"It was good, I guess. How about yours?" She studied my face and frowned, sitting up on her knees to start plucking at my brows. I closed my eyes and lay back.

"It was good" she answered. "We were done early, so me and Caroline had time to go and get some new outfits for tonight."

"I could really do with a new outfit." I mumbled, "Stefan's going to Serpents tonight." She tugged out a particularly stubborn hair and I winced.

"Stefan is out tonight? That's great! You can finally put the moves on him with the fall back of blaming it on the alcohol."

"Yeah, I gue-"

"Oh my god! Let's do a makeover!" She squealed.

"You think I need a makeover?" I asked, a little offended.

"Of course you don't need one!" She backtracked, "I meant that you need to look insanely hot, like Stefan won't even recognise you hot."

She had a point. I felt a smile grace my lips, my mind being filled with images of how well the night could pan out.

"Fine. Make me beautiful, fairy godmother, you only have three hours." I smirked at her and lay my head back so she could continue her work on my eyebrows. She laughed and leant towards me with her tweezers.

"You will sleep with your boss, Cinderella."

Over the next couple of hours Bonnie preened, plucked and perfected me until I felt like New Elena who could successfully go out and seduce her boss. We ordered in pizza and got through a bottle of white wine while we got ready. She listened to me gush about Stefan and told me about a guy she'd met at dance class called Luka, they had a date tomorrow night, which I was happy about. Bonnie deserved someone in her life, she was a perfect catch and I had no idea how she was still single. I loved these moments with Bonnie, she was my best friend, and one of my only friends in the city. There's no one I was as close to as Bonnie.

By the time she'd finished her handy work on me I was wearing the most flawless makeup I'd ever seen, sultry with subtle smoky eyes and bright red lips. She'd told me that the colour was necessary so that Stefan wouldn't be able to take his eyes off my mouth. She'd worked my hair into soft, glossy waves that looked like they'd come straight off the head of a movie star and she'd dressed me in one of her most revealing dresses. It was a skin tight black dress that skimmed my thighs and left my back completely bare spare a couple of thin straps crossed over my shoulder blades. The dress was so revealing I had to leave my bra off.

"What am I supposed to do if I get cold?" I whined. The fabric wasn't very thick and I was certain that I would have issues hiding a nipple erection seeing as I had such trouble picking out underwear that wasn't visible.

"Well, then Stefan will be staring at your nipples," she told me. I huffed and tried to pull at the hem of the dress again. "Leave it, Elena!" She chastised, slapping my hands away. "It looks good, I promise."

Bonnie was wearing a bright yellow dress that fit her curves perfectly and showed off her toned dancer's body. It went down past her knees and had cut out sections at the waist which knotted at the front and back.

"Why can't I wear a dress your length?" I pouted.

"Because you have amazing legs that Stefan doesn't get to see in the office," she told me. I gulped down the rest of my wine and admitted defeat. There was no way I'd get out of wearing a short dress, once Bonnie set her mind on something that was it.

She passed me my black heels and I slipped them on and turned to see the full effect of my outfit in the mirror. I had to admit that I looked good. I was used to taking pride in my appearance and I wasn't one of those girls that got ready in ten minutes, but I wasn't usually dressed so provocatively. Probably because up until now I never went out to hunt for guys, there was only one guy I cared about impressing and for once he would be there.

"You look gorgeous, Elena," Bonnie said coming up behind me and giving me a backwards hug.

"So do you," I told her.

"Ready to get going?" She asked pulling back and smoothing out my curls.

"Let's do this." We grabbed our clutches and made our way out of the apartment.

It was going to be an unforgettable night.

* * *

**So, yeah...there it is, chapter 1. This is my first ever fanfiction, so _pleaseee _review and let me know what you thought (but please be gentle lol).**

**I've been reading fanfics for years now and finally decided to give it a go myself. My plan is to update weekly, but I'm sure any feedback will help feed my muse ;)**

**Pippa x**


	2. Chapter 2

We arrived at The Grill in high spirits, the wine we'd already consumed along with the wolf whistles we'd received off some guys in the street had me feeling confident and ready to go. When we entered the bar is wasn't difficult to spot Caroline's bouncy blond locks leaning over the bar and flirting shamelessly with the bartender.

I knew Caroline through Bonnie, they had done a lot of work together in the past and they were currently both dancing in the new Tyler Lockwood video together. I guess she's the third member of our group and over the past few months she'd been hanging around with us more and more. Unlike Bonnie and I, Caroline is New York born and bred. She dabbles in dancing, acting, modelling and whatever else she can whilst living contently off her very wealthy and very gay father, Bill Forbes.

Tonight she was wearing a form-fitting strapless, crimson dress and skyscraper heels that were hooked around the bar of her stool. Her arms were folded under her breasts, pushing them together in a tantalising cleavage that the young guy behind the bar was doing a terrible job of keeping his eyes off. He said something which had her giggling and flicking her golden hair over her shoulder. The change in angle made her catch glimpse of Bonnie and I heading in her direction and she leapt up out of her seat before flinging herself into our arms and smacking a big kiss on both our cheeks.

"Ladies, you're finally here! I was starting to think I was going to have to go out alone."

"Caroline, we're five minutes early," I told her.

"Have you girls met Ben?" She asked brushing off my comment, "he's new." She pointed over to where the young, shaggy haired brunette was pouring a couple of beers behind the bar.

"Yes, I have. I work here remember?" Bonnie laughed, pushing her back in the direction of the bar.

"Ben here has been fuelling my buzz, which means that you two need to catch up!" Caroline giggled, hopping back onto her stool and calling Ben back over. "Would you get my lovely ladies here some of your finest tequila?" She cooed, fluttering her eyelashes.

Ben smiled, showcasing some cute dimples and pulled the tequila bottle off the shelf. He flung it up in the air, catching it precariously behind his back before pouring the alcohol with expert flicks of his wrist. Caroline, Bonnie and a few other girls around the bar cheered, flashing Ben appreciative gazes and even I had to admit I was a little impressed. He placed three shots in front of us on the bar along with salt and lime and gave Caroline a cheeky wink before shooting off to serve the other eager girls down the bar.

I sprinkled some salt on the back of my hand and raised my glass to clink with Bonnie and Caroline before taking a deep breath, licking the salt off my hand and throwing the liquid down my throat. I could feel it burning at the back of my tongue and jammed the lime in my mouth squeezing my eyes shut and shaking my hands around as if it would get rid of the taste. When the bitterness had started to pass I removed the lime and threw it on to the bar. "UGH!" I looked up and saw Caroline and Bonnie laughing at me.

"Suck it up Elena, we need to get you loosened up!" Bonnie said bumping my shoulder and smirking. Caroline looked at us curiously, raising one of her eyebrows and looking to Bonnie for details. She leant over, whispering loudly into Caroline's ear, "Elena's getting laid tonight."

"Bonnie!" I yelled.

"Ooh yay!" Caroline began to bounce up and down in her stool and clapping, "I guess there's a first for everything."

"Hey! It's not like it would be the first time," I said a little offended. I know it had been a little while...OK more than a while, but I still didn't think that I screamed 'virgin'.

"Hm...The first time in a while though right?" She grinned.

"Well..."

"And your hand doesn't count," Bonnie cut in. Caroline threw her head back in a shrill laugh which set Bonnie off into giggles. I felt my cheeks start to burn and couldn't help the little snigger that bubbled out of my lips.

"I do not do that!" I protested

"Sure you don't," Caroline laughed. She began poking at my arm making buzzing sounds and little moans.

Her teasing was interrupted by the sound of April and Rebekah behind us.

"Hey girls, how's it going?" April asked offering us a round of hugs.

"Great, Elena was just about to tell us about her vibrator," Caroline said merrily.

"That was not about to happen!" I told them, pushing playfully at Caroline's shoulder.

"Well it looks like you girls are ahead, we need to get drinking." Rebekah smiled, looking over to April with a slightly overwhelmed look.

"Tequila!" Caroline called, throwing her arms up and leaning her body over the bar to once again get the attention of her new favourite bartender.

A few drinks later, Caroline and Bonnie had started to bust out their dance routines, so we decided it was time to make our way to Serpents. April and I took the lead as we approached, walking straight to the front of the queue, flashing our work passes and giving our names. After a quick check of his 'freebie list' the bouncer stepped aside letting us past and straight into the building whilst people in the queue threw obscenities at us about blowing the bouncers.

As soon as we stepped inside we were hit by flashing lights scooting across the club's interior. The dance floor was already bustling with bodies grinding to latest Calvin Harris track and Caroline and Bonnie immediately began singing and moving their hips to the song as we made our way towards the bar.

We all ordered fruity cocktails and took up residence in a free booth just off the side of the dance floor. I sipped at my drink as my eyes continuously scoured the room. Stefan was here tonight, maybe already was, and the thought had the nervous butterflies in my stomach flapping at full force. The anticipation was killing me. There was no doubt he would look incredible. How would he act with me, would he awkwardly try to avoid me, or would he be happy to see me? Bonnie clearly sensed my inner turmoil and placed a reassuring hand on my lap, giving my leg a slight squeeze and shooting me a small smile.

As if the thought had conjured him up, I sensed him walking in our direction. Watching him I realized he hadn't spotted us yet, he led a group of lively guys across the room pointing at the free table to our left. In doing so he finally spotted me crammed into the back of our booth and flashed a panty dropping grin that made me glad I was already sitting down because I'm pretty sure if I were standing my legs would have given way just then.

He wore a dark grey sweater that he had pushed up to his elbows, it was pretty tight and even in the dim lighting of the club I could see his broad shoulders and the hint of his delicious abs through the material. His hair was perfectly coiffed, framing his gorgeous face which was looking right at me. My hand shot down and grabbed Bonnie's, stealing her attention away from her conversation with Caroline. She looked up at me before following my line of sight to the approaching group of men, Caroline followed Bonnie's stare curiously turning in her seat to face the oncoming crowd fully.

"Hello boys," Caroline singsonged crossing one leg over the other and leaning back in her seat provocatively.

I stood slowly, making sure that my legs wouldn't fail me as I slid past Bonnie and out of the booth. Stefan reached us at that moment, wrapping an arm around my shoulder and placing a soft kiss on my cheek, I could feel my face heat up and my belly was flip-flopping so much that I thought I might hurl.

"Elena, you look amazing." He told me giving my body a quick once over before turning his attention to the rest of the girls and flashing a dazzling smile. "Good evening ladies."

"Hi, Mr Salvatore," April called. She looked a little surprised to see him and I felt bad for forgetting to mention to her that our boss would be here tonight.

"Stefan!" A tall guy called, coming over and resting heavily on his shoulder, "who are all these gorgeous young women and why aren't you introducing us?"

Stefan let out a husky laugh which I could feel vibrating through me from where his hand still lay against my bare shoulder blade. "Ladies, this is my cousin, Zach, and before any of you get the wrong idea, he is here to celebrate his engagement."

"Had to ruin it didn't you," Zach mumbled playfully hitting Stefan on the arm. The rest of the guys had gathered around the back of them, closing us further into our claustrophobic corner. Stumbling slightly, Zach climbed into the seating area next to ours, followed quickly by a few of the other guys that I didn't recognise.

"So, are you girls enjoying your night?" Stefan asked.

"I am now." Caroline said boldly, cutting me off before I could utter a response. Stefan's gaze flicked to Caroline's and I could see him taking her in. She still sat with an arm rested over the back of her chair with her toned legs crossed over on display. From this position Stefan had a clear view down her accented cleavage and to my dismay I noticed his eyes linger there a moment too long.

"I'm sorry, I don't think we've met." Stefan said to her, slipping his palm off of my shoulder.

"Caroline Forbes," she said, standing up seductively and holding out her hand.

"Stefan Salvatore." He took her palm in his and placed a chaste kiss on the back of her hand, maintaining eye contact way too long for my liking.

"_The_ Stefan Salvatore?" She asked in mock awe. She'd never shown any interest in the Salvatore's before, then again she'd never seen them in person before either.

"I guess so, yeah." Stefan mumbled clearly embarrassed.

"Wow." Caroline eyed him appreciatively, blatantly checking him out. _Tramp._ "Elena, you never told me that your boss was so handsome!" Caroline said turning towards me in annoyance before flashing Stefan another seductive glance.

"Well, Elena never told me that her friend was such a liar." Stefan countered, smirking at her. Clearly they didn't actually want my input in the conversation.

"I am not!" Caroline giggled, slapping him on the arm and lingering on his bicep for a longer time than was acceptable.

What the hell was happening? I'd seen Caroline flirt before but she was seriously laying it on heavy, Stefan couldn't be falling for this, right? I should have considered this earlier, of course Caroline would try to flirt her way in, he's an attractive rich single guy. I needed to break this up soon or a night of sheet clawing sex with my boss would remain complete and total fantasy. I wanted him to touch me again, my shoulder still tingled from where he had his hand before.

Looking back over my shoulder I caught glimpse of Damon Salvatore a few metres back standing in close proximity with a tall curvaceous blonde whose hair fell in glossy waves down her back to her hips. She wore a tight neon white strapless dress that was probably a few sizes too small and judging by the tight fabric I wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't wearing underwear. She looked up at Damon cooing something that I figured was probably sex-related when I noticed his eyes following the movement of an oncoming girl's ass encased in tiny leather hotpants, as she walked by me his stare rose to find me looking at him with a hint of disgust and I thought I saw his eyes widen slightly as he seemed to recognise me. He dropped his gaze down to my feet and let it caress my body all the way up until his eyes met mine again, and for the second time today I felt completely butt naked under his stare. He held me in place with some pretty intense eye contact for a few seconds, taking a deep pull from the beer bottle in his hand before the blonde stole his attention back by placing her hand on the side of his face and forcing his eyes back to her.

"So what do you do for a living, Caroline?" Stefan asked, reminding me that I had bigger problems at hand than being eye-fucked by Damon Salvatore.

"I'm a dancer." Caroline smiled, smoothing her golden hair down over her shoulder.

"Really?" He looked impressed.

"Uh huh," she murmured, "want me to show you?"

"I think I'd disappoint you, I'm not much of a dancer."

"I don't believe that for one second. Come on it'll be fun." Caroline said sidling up to him further. _Back off bitch._

"Stefan you don't have to." I cut in, trying to save him. Knowing Caroline, she wouldn't quit until she had Stefan on that dance floor.

"No, it's ok, I'll go." _Crap. "_You just can't laugh at my two left feet." He said taking Caroline's outreached hand.

"No promises," she smiled back, tugging his hand in the direction of the dance floor.

"We'll go too!" Bonnie yelled jumping up, "right, Elena?"

I stood, speechlessly looking from her to Caroline and Stefan's retreating backs.

"Are you just gonna let her take your man like that?" She asked me under her breath.

"I...I just need to go to the bathroom first and sort my head out," I mumbled. "You girls go ahead and I'll meet you in a second."

"You better not leave." Bonnie told me before leading the way for Rebekah and April into the sea of moving bodies.

* * *

I stared at my reflection in the mirror and applied a fresh layer of gloss to my lips, placing it back in my bag I noticed that Bonnie had stuffed some condoms into the zip compartment. _Well, these were useless now._

This was not how my night was supposed to pan out, I should be dancing with Stefan right now, not Caroline. They didn't seem like a good fit to me anyway, Caroline was way too high maintenance for Stefan, he's a tranquil person and I couldn't imagine him and Caroline hitting it off in the long run. Maybe he was sick of her already. With that thought in mind I decided to pull myself together and crash their dance party, Caroline may be a better dancer than me, but I was in a sluttier dress.

I made my way back through the club and pushed myself through the dense crowd of bodies hunting down Stefan. After a lot of pushing, shoving and getting my ass groped by random guys I found them pretty much bang in the middle of the floor, and immediately wished that I hadn't. I don't know what I was expecting when I found them but for some reason my optimistic mind had thought their dancing would be slightly more PG. Stefan's hands lay on Caroline's hips, basically on the curve of her ass whilst she held onto his biceps and swirled her hips into his. Caroline was clearly no amateur when it came to this type of dancing, her hips moved perfectly, almost as if independent from her body as they bumped against his. Stefan leant in, saying something in her ear which had her giggling and moving her arms up to circle his neck.

I felt sick. Nausea was starting to bubble up inside me as I stood immobile, staring at them like a car crash. Bonnie spotted me then and gave me one of the most sympathetic looks I think I'd ever seen on her. She looked back to them and made a move towards Caroline, tapping her on the shoulder and trying to break them up.

"Bonnie!" Caroline chastised tilting her head towards Stefan whilst mouthing the words, "I'm busy."

Fantastic, looks like Stefan would be getting laid tonight, just not by me. I felt pathetic as my vision blurred slightly from an onset of tears that were aching to get out, but I wouldn't let them, the last thing I wanted to do was let them see me affected. Bonnie knew me too well not to notice though and quickly wrapped me in a hug that almost knocked the air right out of me. She held onto me tight as she whispered apologies in my ear.

"I'm so sorry, Elena. I had no idea this would happen. I don't know what to do. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have invited her. We'll find you someone else, someone better."

"No thanks," I mumbled pulling away and blinking back my tears. "I just really need a drink."

"I'll come with you."

"No, don't." I insisted. "Stay and dance, I'll be fine. I'll come and find you in a bit, OK?"

"Are you sure? I don't want to leave you like this," she mumbled.

"I'll be fine, I just need a minute." I needed to remove the image of Caroline clinging to Stefan like a big slutty vine and alcohol seemed the only way to do that.

"OK." She said sadly throwing her arms around my neck again. "Please don't feel bad, 'Lena, he's really not all that."

_Yes he is_, I thought as I turned around and flung myself off the dance floor not wanting to catch another glimpse of Caroline trying to climb Stefan like a tree.

* * *

Twenty minutes later and I still hadn't been served. To say I was pissed off was an understatement, the three servers behind the bar seemed to serve everyone but me. Life was really playing a cruel joke on me tonight, huh? The petite redhead made her way back to my end of the bar and I shot my hand out to capture her attention for the hundredth time tonight, finally she walked in my direction.

"I'll have a-"

"Bourbon. Double. Neat." Some asshole shouted over me. The redhead looked up at the guy who was pressed up against my back and nodded turning away to get his drink. _What the hell!_ I flung myself around to give the asshole a piece of my mind when I saw that it was none other than Damon Salvatore. He stood close, towering over me and could see the dimly lit expression of boredom on his face between flashes of strobe lights.

He noticed me staring and his eyes flicked to mine, studying the pissed off look on my face. He stuck his hand out recapturing the redhead's attention, "make that two," he told her. She nodded and scuttled away to pour his drinks.

Damon turned his attention back to me, eying me with amusement as he observed my irritated stance. My arms crossed, hip jutting out and shoulders pulled back, looking up at him with a scowl on my face. The redhead placed the drinks down on a couple of black square napkins and he picked them both up, placing one in my static hand and clicking his ice cold glass against mine.

"Ellen."

"That's not what I was going to order!" I shouted over the music.

"Who cares, drink it!" He lifted the tumbler to his lips and gulped it down as if it were water.

I grimaced at the amber liquid, eying it as I swirled it in a whirlpool around the glass. _Suck it up, Elena. _I took a deep breath and tossed it back in one. I could feel the burning liquid stuck in my throat and my body compulsively began to gag and cough at the repulsive taste.

"Fuck, that's disgusting!" I grimaced.

"Hey, that's Salvatore's finest you're talking about."

"Well, it tastes like ass!" I said vigorously wiping at my mouth with my napkin whilst still trying to swallow down the taste of bourbon. I could feel him inch his way closer to me in the cramped mass of bodies shoving their way past us to the bar.

"How do you know what ass tastes like?"

"What? I… I don't, that's not what I-"

"It's cool, I get it. Each to their own and all." He raised his hands in defence and removed the tumbler from my hand placing it along with his back on the bar.

"What!? No. I am not into that sort of thing! That's gross and-" I looked up to find him smirking at me and doing that eye thing that he does. _Oh..._ "-And I'm talking to my boss about ass. I didn't think this night could get any worse." I said throwing my arms up.

"Well at least you're not here pretending to be happy for a relative you see once a year." He rolled his eyes slightly, but I didn't miss the gesture.

"At least you have family to pretend to be happy for," I told him bitterly. His brow creased as he studied me curiously.

"I think you need another glass of ass." He said, motioning his hand out to recapture redhead's attention from the sea of booze-thirsty customers.

"Vodka." I corrected him.

He smirked and focused his attention on pushing forward to the bar and pissing off even more patrons with his godly power to get served. I stood waiting for him, getting shoved to and fro by groups of friends trying to get to the bar. At least I couldn't see Caroline and Stefan humping each other from here. Damon maneuvered his way back towards me and handed over a bright red cocktail which I assumed was a cosmopolitan, he had another glass of ass-bourbon for himself. He'd just placed the drink in my hand when some girl pushed past me, knocking half of it down my dress.

"Shit!"

"Come on." Damon grabbed my elbow and lead me through the crowd and past the seating area where April and Rebekah now sat gossiping. We walked up some steps and on to a raised level that overlooked the dance floor, a bouncer stood in front of a red rope cordoning off the VIP area, seeing us approach he quickly unclipped the rope letting us through.

"Mr Salvatore," the bouncer said in acknowledgment. Damon gave him a nod and led me to the far end of the room, passing by a few larger tables where big groups gathered around chattering whilst drinking cocktails and champagne. He motioned for me to sit down in a circular red velvet booth, I slid myself into the corner and quickly started to pull the mini dress down past my thighs where it had ridden up against the fabric of the seat. Damon followed, sliding up to me and resting one arm on the back of the seat above my head, closing me in. This was much more claustrophobic than his office.

I started to rub at the wet patch from the spilled drink, hoping that the friction of my hand might dry the mark. I could feel Damon's eyes on me as he sipped his drink. I was getting flustered under his gaze, I could feel my cheeks burning and my skin start to sweat. Why wasn't he talking anymore? It's not like I had an escape other than crawling over the table, which was definitely not an option in my current attire.

"I like the dress." I finally heard him say and looked up to find his eyes raking my body appreciatively.

"It's not mine." I mumbled, turning an even brighter shade of crimson. He didn't answer straight away, instead he just scanned my body again. An act I'd come to realise that he did a lot. He wet his lips with his tongue and I found my gaze drawn to the motion.

"Shame." My eyes flicked up to his to find him staring at me with an intense expression. He was completely surrounding me, so I picked up what was left of my drink and started to gulp it down in a bid to calm my nerves.

"I didn't take you for such a drinker," he told me.

"It's been a shitty night. I kind of just want to forget it," I said pushing my empty glass away.

"Well if its unlimited alcohol you're after, you've found the right person." He lifted his hand and signalled for the waiter who stood behind a small bar at the other side of the room. At Damon's request he quickly left his post and walked over to our table.

"Tequila, best bring the bottle," Damon told him.

"Of course, Mr Salvatore." The waiter replied grabbing my empty glass as he left.

"Wow," I said, "I should've found you an hour ago." He smirked at me and downed the rest of his bourbon, catching an escaped droplet from the corner of his mouth with the tip of his tongue.

"I am the boss of this place."

"How could I forget? Everyone that works here rushes to serve your every command."

"Whatever it takes to get a girl wasted." He smirked, leaning even closer to me.

"You are such a gentleman." I muttered sarcastically, shaking my head with a small smile.

"No I'm not." He flashed his white teeth in a carnal grin, and once again my gaze was drawn to his mouth.

Damon looked good tonight, not that he didn't normally. In fact he always looked good, but tonight it was a different kind of good. I was used to seeing him in his powerful suits, running his empire from behind a desk, but tonight he was out in the real world. He still radiated power and sex appeal, only now it was like he was more approachable, almost like a normal human being. He wore a black shirt that fit him just right, stretching across his taut chest muscles and leaving no doubt as to the sculptured physique that lay underneath, especially when I could see the top of his chest and the small scattering of dark hair peeking out a couple of open buttons. He wore dark jeans that showed off his powerful thighs, one of which was resting up against mine on the seat so he could face me more easily.

I don't think I'd ever been this close to him, his arm was still around the back of the booth above my head and our faces were now only inches apart. I could see everything, the flawlessness of his skin, every dark eyelash and the softness of his lips. His eyes were big in the dimness of the room hiding most of the blue, but the colour that remained was almost shining in the lights, making them seem even more hypnotising than usual.

From this close distance, his scent washed over me in waves. I could smell the slight tang of bourbon on his breath and the musky masculine scent of his cologne, but under it was something else, something distinctly Damon. It smelled like power, money and sex, and it smelled awesome. I'm not sure what was making me feel more drunk, that or the alcohol.

No wonder this man had slept with practically every woman in New York, right now I don't think even I could turn him down. I could feel the alcohol flowing through my veins, and that along with Damon was a lethal combination that had me almost forgetting about Stefan and Caroline lost grinding in the sea of dancers below me.

The waiter broke me out of my stupor when he placed down a circular tray holding two thin shot glasses and a bottle of what I knew to be extremely expensive tequila. Damon turned his body away from me, nodding his head at the waiter in silent thanks before breaking the bottle's seal and pouring a small amount of liquid into the glasses. He slid one towards me and I immediately picked it up and threw it back. I was feeling a lot more confident than I had earlier and the taste of tequila no longer seemed to repulse my taste buds.

I could feel Damon's eyes on me as I drank, not lifting the glass to his lips until I had finished. I watched him drink with avid curiosity, the bob of his Adam's apple as he swallowed, the way his eyes and brow creased slightly as he scrunched up his face and the tiny grimace that he tried to hide as he slammed his glass back down on the polished table. I felt like I was watching an animal out of its normal habitat. Out of his suit and the landscape of his office, Damon seemed like a normal guy, out on a Friday night and blowing off steam. My lip quirked at the strangeness of the situation - I was doing tequila shots with Damon Salvatore.

"What?" He asked eyeing me suspiciously.

"Nothing," I smiled, "I guess it's just weird seeing you act like a real person and not a robot dick."

"A robot dick?" His mouth curled up slightly in an almost smile.

"Yeah, a robot dick. You act like you have no feelings like a robot and you're a dick. A robot dick."

"And it's weird for me to see you with a personality," he told me, "usually you say two words and then run away."

"Well…you're intimidating and angry and..."

"A robot dick?" He smirked.

"Exactly!" I laughed.

"Look at you, a couple of drinks and suddenly you're Miss Talkative, I'll have to get you drunk more often." He leaned in closer to me, angling his head so that his lips rested against my ear, "and I can assure you," he murmured, "my dick is all human."

I heated at his words and the feel of his warm breath against my skin, his smell invaded my senses and I inhaled it greedily while I could. I turned away from his body and went to pour another shot, figuring I probably needed it. Damon leant forward, following my lead and rested an elbow on the table, which caused the fabric of his shirt to strain over his flexed bicep. I had a mental image of it ripping apart like The Hulk...or I could rip it off him...I definitely needed another drink.

"Sure you're ready for another one of those?" He asked.

"What are you talking about?" I smiled, "my tolerance is way up here!" I flung my hand up above my head which caused me to slightly bounce on my seat.

"How about we make this one a body shot?" He teased raising a brow and flashing me a sinful smirk which had me thinking he was only half joking. I let out a nervous laugh and poured us both another shot.

"What happened to the girl you were with downstairs?" I blurted out in a bid to change the subject.

"What girl?" he asked.

"The one that I saw you talking with. The blonde."

"She was no one, just...an old friend." He muttered, raising his brow suggestively at the word 'friend'.

"Huh, and by 'friend' you mean someone you screwed?" I smirked.

"You shouldn't make assumptions."

"Ok, then. So what was her name?" I asked. He bit the inside of his lip whilst he looked at me, trying to think. My smile grew wider in victory as a few more seconds went by.

"Fine, so I don't remember her name!" He finally burst out and I couldn't help the giggles that forced their way out of my lips.

"And why doesn't that surprise me?" I teased.

"I don't know what you're talking about,_ Ellen,_" he said, giving me a knowing smile. So maybe he does know my name then, after all mine and Stefan's efforts to correct him he was playing us all along.

The thought of Stefan hit me like an icy blast. My head craned over my shoulder to look down at the pulsing bodies beneath me, and I thought I saw a flash of a red dress before Damon interrupted me.

"Let's dance." He said, already standing and holding out his hand to me.

"What?" I asked, looking to him in confusion.

"Let's dance. It's obvious you want to, you keep staring at the dance floor. Plus, I want to see how you move without that stick up your ass." He grinned.

I looked down at the floor again before taking his hand and following him out of the VIP room and down to the dance floor. If Stefan could dance with Caroline all night then I sure as hell could dance with his brother. Maybe that would get his attention.

I clung to Damon's hand as he pulled me through the dense crowd of bodies and into the centre of the dance floor. When he reached a spot he liked he gave a sharp tug of my hand, making me spin into him quickly and colliding with his chest whilst his arms wrapped around me.

"You're good at this." I smiled up at him, giddy from the unexpected move.

"I've got moves you've never seen." He murmured against my ear before spinning me back out and dragging my body up against his.

I laughed as he span us around playfully, gripping his muscular shoulders tightly so that I wouldn't topple over in my heels. As he twirled me I spotted Caroline and Stefan a few bodies away, still caught up in their grinding. _Hadn't they had enough yet? _

I put my arms around the back of Damon's neck, my stilettos making me tall enough to watch them over his shoulder. His hands immediately found the bare skin of my back, gently caressing my skin as he ran his fingertips up and down my spine, which caused shivers of pleasure to run through me and go much lower.

I let my bitterness from watching them translate into the movement of my body, focusing on the erotic motion of Caroline's hips and trying to match it. At first Damon seemed a bit hesitant from my eager reaction but he soon caught up with me grinding his body in sync with my own.

"Who would have thought a good girl like you knew how to dance like a bad girl." He said close to my ear, his voice seemed deeper now, slightly husky.

"Who says I'm a good girl?" I teased, biting my bottom lip and looking up at him with my most seductive look.

He let out an appreciative growl at my words which had to be the most erotic sound I'd ever heard in my short, inexperienced life. It made me think of what other sounds I could get out of him.

He tightened his hold on my hips and spun me around so that my back now lay against his solid chest. From this angle I now faced away from Stefan and Caroline, so I brought my arm up behind me to circle his neck while edging us around so that we now both faced them.

The idea that at any moment Stefan could turn and see me and his brother in such a compromising position gave me a sudden surge of power. I ran my hand further up and through the hairs at the nape of Damon's neck. His reaction was just what I was hoping for, grinding more confidently against my ass.

The alcohol was making me wild, bringing out my inner slut and throwing away any inhibitions or common sense that I may have possessed. My movements were clearly having more of an impact than I first anticipated as I felt Damon's grinding crotch hardening against me.

I really knew better than to take it personally, Damon seemed like the type of guy to be in a constant state of arousal, although from what I'd witnessed and could only assume due to his insane good looks, Damon certainly didn't settle for second best or girls that were anything less than perfection. So instead of feeling offended by the hardening cock against my ass I took it has a massive compliment to my earlier deflated ego.

I was getting hot, too hot. I could feel the liquid heat pooling in my tiny panties and my nipples puckering under the thin material of my dress. I wasn't supposed to be enjoying this but I couldn't deny that I was. It had been two years since I had last encountered this type of reaction from a guy and my body was quickly reminded that it was anticipating sex tonight.

Of their own accord, my hips began churning with more force against his, I tightened my fist in his mussed up hair and yanked his head further forward. He let out a hiss and I could feel his hot breath pouring like wildfire onto the skin of my already overheated neck. He began gyrating his hips into my backside with harder thrusts, his manhood growing against me with every rotation of our overly eager hips.

Moving my hair to the side, Damon placed his lips against my skin, placing a hot kiss against my bare shoulder before dragging his bottom lip all the way up the side of my neck, following the path of my carotid artery. The sensations he was giving me were too much and I had to squeeze my eyes shut to control myself from falling to the floor and begging him to take me right there.

The touch of his hand moving across my stomach made my eyes flutter open again, only my bubble was quickly burst when I spotted Bonnie a few feet away, gawking at me like I was butt-naked. Her accusatory look was enough to sober me slightly as Damon's hands turned me so I faced him once again.

His eyes were heavy lidded as he dropped his gaze to my lips and tilted his head slightly as he leant further forward.

Oh crap.

He's going to kiss me.

* * *

**Wow! Thank you so much to everyone who followed, favourited and reviewed last chapter! I was super nervous about actually sharing this with you but all the positive comments and love from you all made it totally worth it :D**

**I'm glad you're enjoying so far and hope chapter 2 lived up to your expectations. Please hit the review button and let me know what you thought ;)**

**Soooo much love, hugs, kisses and snogs - Pippa x**


	3. Chapter 3

Ouch.

That was my only thought when I woke up on Saturday morning. Everywhere hurt, especially my head. My mouth felt like it was made of sand and my eyes now seemed to detest light. Even the scent of fresh coffee being wafted under my nose didn't help, in fact it just made me feel worse.

I groaned, swatting it away with my hand and pulling the covers up over my head.

"Come on, Elena. Take the aspirin." Bonnie cooed ripping the blankets away from my body.

I moaned in protest, pathetically grabbing for my lost shelter.

"It'll make your head stop hurting."

Well, that did sound good. I grabbed the pills from her hand and washed them down with the water she passed me.

"I am never drinking again." I rasped, falling back onto the mattress.

"Yeah, right. I've heard that one before." Bonnie said placing the empty glass back on the nightstand.

"I'm serious this time."

"Uh huh," she smiled.

"How come you're so perky anyway?" I huffed, it didn't seem fair that she was cheerful and fresh when I felt like death.

"I dunno," she shrugged, "maybe it's because I didn't do shots with my boss last night."

"Oh god!" I groaned, covering my face with my palms. Sadly my hangover wasn't severe enough to erase my memory of the night before.

After I had realised that Damon was about to kiss me I'd quickly turned my head so that his lips hit my cheek and made my excuses, claiming that I felt sick and had to go to the bathroom. From there I pretty much bolted straight from the club into a taxi, into my bed and passed out.

"What was I thinking?" I mumbled, my voice muffled by the barrier of my hands.

"You were thinking that you needed to make yourself feel better after seeing the guy you've loved for two years dancing with your friend." She said holding my wrists and prying them away from my face.

"By leading on my man whore boss who can't even remember my name?"

"I don't judge you, Elena. Honestly, if anyone's going to fuck you well enough to forget all about Stefan, Damon's probably your guy."

"I do not want to fuck Damon Salvatore." I protested, the thought actually made me feel nauseous again, I had no interest in being a nameless face in Damon Salvatore's list of conquests, despite my actions the night before.

"Everyone wants to fuck Damon Salvatore, Elena. I think that's the point."

"Well you didn't really look impressed last night." I told her, recalling the horrified expression on her face.

"I was shocked! You haven't been with a guy in years and then I see you humping the boss you're always bitching about."

"I was not humping him!" I argued.

"Please, you were basically having sex with your clothes on."

"Bonnie!" I yelled, swatting her with my pillow.

"I'm just saying, you could do with an orgasm induced by an actual human man."

"What I could do with is not getting an STD from a gigolo," I countered.

"Fine," Bonnie laughed holding her hands up, "but it might make you feel better."

I raised my brow at her.

"Also, I know you've been out of the game for a while, but there are these things now called condoms that prevent that sort of thing."

I hit her with my pillow again and she laughed pushing me away.

"So…have you spoken to Caroline today?" I asked quietly, looking down and pretending to inspect my now slightly chipped manicure.

"Not today, no." She answered, I nodded. "But she didn't go home with Stefan if that's what you mean."

My head shot up, "she didn't?"

Bonnie shook her head. "I shared a cab home with her, she said she didn't want to 'come across as a slut'."

"Right," I snorted, "that'll be a first."

"Don't be mad at Caroline," Bonnie said looking up at me, "she doesn't know how you feel about him."

"That is not true, I distinctly remember telling her I was in love with my boss that night we had long island iced teas at that tikki bar. I was sitting with her and I told her!"

"Wasn't that the night she vomited out the side of a cab?" She asked looking at me unconvincingly.

"Yes..."

"Elena, come on." Bonnie sighed throwing her head back, "she couldn't even remember her own name that night, never mind your confession of love for someone she didn't even know."

"Whose side are you on?" I knew I sounded like a bitch but I figured I had the right.

"You know I'm on your side, Elena. Always." She smiled, giving my leg a slight squeeze where it stuck out from under the covers.

"Did she say anything about him?" I could sense her hesitation to the question.

"She didn't say much, just that he 'gave her butterflies'." She said making air quotations with her fingers and putting on a high pitched girly voice.

"And what did you say?"

"I told her to never say that phrase again." The side of her mouth quirked up and I returned her smile.

She gave my leg another squeeze and stood up, making her way to the door. "Don't take too long to sober up or I won't make you any lunch."

* * *

One coffee and a shower later I emerged from my room feeling marginally better than I did when I'd woken. My head still felt foggy but now it was more of a dull ache rather than severe throbbing. I made my way to the kitchen where Bonnie stood washing last night's dishes and shaking her hips along to the radio. I collapsed into a chair at the table which caused the wooden legs to screech against the floor.

"Good morning, sunshine." Bonnie called out merrily. I grunted in response, pushing away wet strands of hair that stuck to my face.

"Omelette?" She asked walking over to where I bent over the table and handing me a bottle of water.

"Yeah, thanks Bonnie." I gave her a small smile and starting sipping at the water. A few minutes later she placed the steaming eggs down in front of me along with some toast and took a seat opposite me sipping on a coffee.

I looked down at the food sceptically, my stomach ached and I wasn't sure if it was down to sickness or hunger. I didn't want to seem ungrateful, especially when Bonnie was looking at me expectantly over her coffee cup, so I picked up the toast and began to slowly chew. The more I ate the less tender my stomach began to feel and soon I was wolfing it down, shovelling the eggs into my mouth until nothing was left.

"Thanks Bonnie, that was great." I hiccupped, inelegantly wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.

"I can tell," she smirked at me. "What are your plans for the rest of the day?"

"I have no idea," I shrugged. "I'll probably just veg out in front of the TV and eat my weight in chocolate. Wanna join?"

"I have that date with Luka tonight," she said.

"Oh yeah, of course," I mumbled. I wondered if Caroline and Stefan would be out on a date tonight. No doubt Caroline would put out on the first date.

"I can cancel."

"Why would you do that?" I asked confused.

"You need a friend right now. I mean, what if I go out and come back to find that you've choked to death on chocolate and your own tears."

"I think I'll be fine, Bonnie."

"Just keep your phone close by, just in case." She smiled.

* * *

A few hours later Bonnie left me to go and meet Luka so I got my duvet and every snack I could find in the kitchen cupboards and set up camp on the couch. I started to browse through our DVD collection but found the task of picking out a movie difficult when I realised pretty much the only genre we own is romance. I really didn't want to see hot guys kissing girls and couples falling in love right now. After relentless digging around I finally came across the Harry Potter box set.

Perfect.

It only took me half of the first movie before the tears started to flow. The image of Hermoine being attacked by a troll somehow seemed like a metaphor for my life, and once I'd started I couldn't seem to make myself stop.

During the second movie and my second box of chocolates, my hysteria eventually began to ease up and now only the occasional tear leaked from my eyes. Shoving my hand in the box below me I pulled out the final chocolate and popped it in my mouth, letting it melt on my tongue. Just as I made a move to swallow, another wave of emotion bubbled up making me gasp for breath, which resulted in the chocolate going down my windpipe instead. I shot up on the couch, white knuckling the armrest in an attempt to breathe. _Oh my god, Bonnie was right. This is how I'm going to die._ Even more tears began to stream down my face and I bent over trying to stimulate the Heimlich manoeuvre on myself. Finally the semi-chewed chocolate burst out of my throat landing in a soggy splat on the carpet. I fell back gasping oxygen back into my burning lungs and calming down my now erratic heartbeat.

After spending several minutes regaining my composure and clearing the chocolate spit gloop up off the carpet, I figured it was time to call it a night so I made my way to my bed and settled in for what was sure to be a night of insomnia.

* * *

I'm not sure if I actually got any sleep on Saturday night and if I did it couldn't have been more than a couple of hours. At 7am on Sunday morning I decided to give up on the pretence of sleep and got up to go running. It helped more than I thought it would, releasing some of my pent up frustration and giving me something else to focus on other than the vivid images of Caroline and Stefan in explicit scenes that my mind had conjured up the night before.

When I returned I took a bath with every salt, foam and oil that I could find and by the time I was starting to prepare dinner I was feeling slightly more relaxed than I had yesterday.

At 1pm there was a knock on the door and I quickly turned down the heat on the tomato sauce I was working on to greet my guest with a goofy smile.

"Jer!" I squealed, throwing my arms tightly around his neck whilst he lifted my feet off the floor and held me close.

"Hey sis," he smiled, setting me back on my feet and rubbing my head roughly, which caused my hairs to go static and stand on end. "How are you?"

"I'm great," I lied. "How about you?"

"I'm good," he told me as we made our way through to the kitchen. I got us both a beer out of the fridge and went back to making up the tomato sauce. He started telling me about how his new job was going and I listened intently, feeling happier than I had all weekend.

Jeremy had recently graduated college and had landed himself his dream job doing graphic design for a company that did comics and helped with the designs for movies and cartoons. It was only an internship for now but he seemed pretty sure it would turn into a full time position.

He was trying to explain to me how they turned a still image into an animation when Bonnie walked in, struggling with several grocery bags.

"Hi Jeremy!" Bonnie called from behind the pile in her arms.

"Hey Bonnie," he laughed, making his way over to help her unpack.

"Jeez, did you get enough wine?" he asked, pulling bottle after bottle out of one of the bags. "How did you even carry all this?"

"Hey, I'm stronger than I look." She pouted, flexing her biceps.

I smiled to myself as I cooked, I loved my brother dearly and having him around never failed to make me happy, even now when I felt like my heart had literally been torn out of my chest, the scarring wasn't as bad in his company.

After they had unpacked, Jeremy went to the bathroom and Bonnie joined me at the stove, opening up a beer for herself.

"Has your brother always been that hot?" She asked sliding along the counter so we stood shoulder to shoulder.

"Ew, Bonnie!" I cringed.

"What, it's a compliment." She shrugged, taking a gulp of her beer.

"No, it isn't!" I hissed, she'd never said anything like this about Jeremy before. He was practically a brother to her too, seeing as they'd known each other their entire lives.

"To him it is."

"So tell him, not me!" My face was starting to ache from the disgusted look that was etched onto it. "Besides," I whispered, "what about Luka?"

"A girl can look." She smirked, bringing the bottle to her lips again. I seriously hoped that she was messing with me. I mean, I knew my brother was good looking and everything but it was still a gross thing to think about in too much depth.

Thirty minutes later I was serving up lasagne onto plates and the three of us sat down to start eating.

"So, Jeremy," Bonnie started, "you look good. Have you been working out more?"

I choked a little on the pasta I was chewing and Jeremy leant over chuckling and patting my back.

"Yeah, actually I have. After breaking up with Anna I've had a lot of spare time on my hands."

"What, you broke up with Anna?" I asked surprised. "When?"

"About five weeks ago." He said casually putting another forkful of food into his mouth.

"Five weeks! Why didn't you tell me?" I asked. He'd been with Anna for just over two years so I figured that them breaking up was a big deal.

"I'm sorry, I just didn't really want to talk about it." He said looking at me apologetically.

"Of course, I'm sorry," I mumbled. "Are you OK?"

"I'm doing great actually, I've got an awesome job, I'm meeting loads of new people and it gave me the chance to get to the gym again…which is clearly paying off." He smirked at Bonnie, bringing his beer up to his lips. She smirked back at him, but looked my way when I sent her an appalled stare, she just shrugged at me.

Conversation didn't stay awkward for long, Bonnie started to explain the concept of the Tyler Lockwood video she was in and how she had some auditions next week to be an extra in a Broadway musical. Too soon Jeremy was hugging me goodbye and my weekend was drawing to a close. After drinking some wine and watching the third Harry Potter movie with Bonnie, we headed off to bed and I lay in dread of what seeing Stefan tomorrow would be like.

* * *

Monday morning I woke up before my alarm. I'd had another light and restless attempt at sleep, after being distracted for the course of the day, my brain apparently wanted to catch me up on all the destructive thoughts I'd missed.

For once I dragged myself out of my cocoon of sheets earlier than I needed to and dedicated extra time into doing some crunches and making sure I looked flawless. I may have felt like crap but I certainly didn't need to look it. I spent time precariously applying layers of concealer to my dark circles, which were extra visible due to all the lack of sleep and tears I had cried last night.

I got to work on autopilot, my mind too preoccupied with thoughts of Stefan to focus on walking. When I entered the main lobby I was stopped short by the familiar back of a head stood waiting at the bank of elevators. I couldn't see his face, but I knew that it was Damon, he stood calm and collected, the power of authority practically radiating off him, making sure that everyone kept a reasonable distance away from him. Well, every male anyway. I hung back, hiding behind a pillar in the lobby and pretending to check my phone while waiting for him to head up to the office before I went and waited with the next intake of people. This was bad, I wasn't even at work yet and I'd almost had a run in with Damon, maybe I should just quit now and save myself the awkwardness.

When I got up to the office and entered the reception, April was occupied welcoming two well-dressed, middle aged men into the waiting area, eliminating any chance of gossip. She silently slid the stack of mail to the end of the desk and I swiped them up as I walked past shooting her a small smile. I realised that during my busy schedule of grieving over the weekend I had forgotten to call April and apologise for leaving early on Friday night.

I headed on through to my desk, doing my usual routine of ditching my purse, feeding the fish and preparing Stefan's office for his arrival. I tried not to linger too long on his photo when a single glance made my throat feel thick with emotion and my eyes burn. I refused to cry at work. Luckily Stefan was out at meetings for the whole morning, so I had some more time to mentally prepare myself before I saw him.

I settled in at my desk and decided to try and stick my head into work in the hope that it might keep my thoughts occupied with something other than Stefan Salvatore. I was working through replying to emails from over the weekend when a new one popped up from April.

**From: **aprilyoung **  
Sent: **11 August 2014 9:13**  
To: **elenagilbert **  
Subject: **Salvatore Sex

What happened to you the other night? I saw you dancing with Damon and then you were gone. Did you go home with him!? OMG how was he – incredible no doubt! I want ALL the details!

- April

_Oh god. _April's questions put memories that I'd been trying to repress from Friday back into my head. I cringed and clunked my head against the top of the desk as images of myself trying to sexy dance flashed through my mind. I quickly hit reply.

**From: **elenagilbert **  
Sent: **11 August 2014 9:16**  
To: **aprilyoung **  
Subject: **RE: Salvatore Sex

No, I definitely did not go home with Damon, nor will I ever go home with him! I did way too many shots and ended up dancing with him but that was all. I'm so embarrassed! I doubt he remembers it though, I'm sure that when I left he had his pick of willing girls to take home and screw.

I'm sorry for bailing so early. I hope you had a good night?

- Elena

After exchanging a few more emails with April she eventually dropped the whole Damon thing. I got back into answering more serious emails from various departments and associates, however it didn't take long staring at the computer screen before my lack of sleep decided to catch up on me, after yawning for the fifth time in a row, I clicked on voicemail and made my way to the kitchen for a serious dose of caffeine.

I exited the kitchen a few minutes later only to look up the hallway and be stopped dead in my tracks by the sight of Damon walking towards me. I immediately turned around to dart in the other direction before he spotted me, but some of the guys from accounting were behind me blocking my path. I turned back to face Damon like a deer caught in the headlights, I'm fairly certain time went into slow motion as I saw him glance up and look into my wide eyes with no sign of emotion showing on his face. He remained cool and stoic as he flicked his eyes down my body and then returned his focus to the iPhone in his hand.

My mouthed opened and closed trying to think of something to say, what the hell is an appropriate thing to say in this situation? _'Hey boss, sorry about the cock tease the other night'?_ It didn't matter anyway, I didn't have time to say anything in the few seconds it took him to pass by and enter the restroom, so instead I just stood there opening and closing my mouth repetitively like some sort of confused, shocked fish. I stood stationary in the corridor whilst the accountants dodged around me, looking at me like I was crazy, after being asked if I was ok I mumbled a response and scurried back to my desk to deal with the return of the other Salvatore.

At precisely 11:37 Stefan strolled into the office. He held his jacket over his arm and the sleeves of his navy shirt had been rolled back, he approached me with a jaw-aching smile which would usually have me feeling giddy but after current events it instead gave me a cold sense of foreboding.

"Good morning, Elena!" He chirped merrily, setting his briefcase down on my desk.

"Morning," I returned, attempting a smile.

"How's everything been this morning?"

"Perfect." I pretended to read an email on my computer as to avoid any eye contact, I knew once I got caught in those green depths I would burst into tears.

"Hey, thanks for introducing me to Caroline." _I didn't introduce you._

"We hung out all weekend, she's great." _Yeah, sure. Great at being a slut. _

"It's not weird, right?" _This is my window. Tell him. Tell him it's weird._

"What, why would it be weird? I don't care. Caroline's like whatever, I don't care about her or you, so…" _Shut the fuck up, Elena! _I let out a nervous laugh.

"Good." It sounded more like a question, but I just kept staring at my screen intently. I could see him shoot me a funny look in my peripheral vision as he picked up his case and made his way towards his office. Just when I thought it was all over and I could finally crawl into a hole and die he paused in the doorway.

"Hey, what kind of flowers does she like?"

"I don't know," I mumbled. I looked in his direction but still refused to meet his stare.

"Roses? Lilies?"

"I don't really-"

"You know what, could you just organise a general bouquet to be sent to her?" The shock of the question finally made my gaze flick up to his. _Send them yourself asshole!_

"Oh, lots of pink." He winked. He actually winked! A week ago that would have made my ovaries explode now it just made my eyes well up with unshed tears and my throat constrict. He finally closed the door behind him and settled into his office, but not before taking the framed photograph of him and Lexi and shoving it in one of his desk draws.

After a pep talk in the bathroom mirror and another dose of caffeine I bitterly ordered the bouquet to be sent to Caroline's apartment, I did make sure that it contained absolutely no pink though.

The remainder of the week continued much in the same way, I watched Stefan be overly happy and enthusiastic with me whilst casually asking questions about Caroline and I avoided running into Damon again at all costs. Caroline tried to contact me a few times over the course of the week but I avoided her calls, I was definitely not ready to deal with her yet. By the time Friday rolled around I was itching to drown my sorrows in tequila again, this time without the company of Caroline and the Salvatore brothers.

It was coming to the end of the 10am Friday management meeting and I was mentally counting down the hours until I could drink away my feelings. After Monday's hallway incident I'd successfully managed to avoid Damon all week, even now sat around the same boardroom table he hadn't even cast me so much as a sideward glance. He was currently explaining to the group that Stefan, Logan and Carol would be out in Las Vegas the following week overseeing the opening of the new Salvatore & Co. hotel. _Thank god_. For the first time since meeting Stefan I couldn't wait to be away from him. The constant Caroline interrogation was driving me insane and the sight of his beautiful, happy face every day was not making the grieving process any easier on me. I needed nothing more than a stress free week where I could leave work early and escape the constant reminder that I was doomed to be alone forever.

"Finally, as you will all be aware, Andie will be leaving us at the end of today," Damon announced. _Lucky bitch._

"I just want to take this opportunity to thank her for all her hard work over the past three years and good luck for the future." He flashed his panty-dropping smirk at her and she blushed, coyly tucking her hair behind her ears and smiling back at everyone who mumbled their 'good lucks' at her.

"As Andie's replacement won't be joining us until next Monday," he continued, "next week Ellen will be assisting me while Stefan is away."

_WHAT?_

"I didn't agree to this," Stefan interrupted.

"What's there to agree on? She'll be low on things to do and I need an assistant."

"She'll have more than enough to be overseeing for me. You can't just take her, you can get a temp in."

"Why would I do that when I have an underutilised assistant at my disposal?" Damon was irritable.

"Have you even asked Elena?"

"Do you have a problem with this?" Damon asked, staring at me expectantly. _Yes, I totally have a problem. Kill me, kill me right now._

"No, Sir." I said shaking my head and flashing a strained smile which probably made me look like I was in pain.

"That's settled then," he said shooting Stefan a triumphant smirk. He stood up from his chair and fastened the singular button on his suit jacket. "Ellen, you'll work from Andie's desk next week." He began to make his way out of the boardroom, effectively ending the meeting. Others quickly followed while some stuck around to say their goodbyes to Andie. I sat motionless in my chair staring blankly ahead, my thoughts racing at a thousand miles a minute. A week working for Damon…Fuck_._

* * *

**First of all, I just want to thank each and every one of you for the overwhelming support for this story. I love each and every one of you and am sending out virtual hugs to you all! **

**I know a lot of you will probably be annoyed by the lack of Delena action in this chapter but I promise that it is coming!**

**Once again let me know what you all thought and I'll see you in chapter 4 ;)**


	4. Chapter 4

Monday came around way too quickly. My weekend hadn't consisted of much, mainly lying awake throughout the night, napping during the day and eating way too much Chinese takeout while watching bad movies. As soon as my alarm blared at me on Monday morning I immediately wished I'd done something more productive with my free time, something told me that spending the week with Damon would be more emotionally draining than dealing with Stefan and his Caroline infatuation.

I was nervous, I felt like a kid about to spend their first day in a new school and my classmates were going to pick on me. The thought of what lay in store for me the coming week filled me with a sense of dread, mainly because I had absolutely no idea what to expect from Damon, he had given me no indication to his feelings after last Friday and so now I had no clue of how to act around him. I don't know, maybe I was just overthinking things, although it was a big deal for me to dance so brazenly with someone, to Damon it was definitely the norm. Getting turned down on the other hand…yeah, I'm sure that's never happened before.

I made it to work early, even beating April which was a first. I exited the elevator, forgoing my usual route and made my way towards Damon's office, it felt totally unnatural but I continued my normal routine in my new setting anyway. I started working on my usual weekly ritual, even though I was working under Damon this week I still had all my typical stuff to do for Stefan.

It didn't take long for Damon to get in, I knew that he always got to work early which is why I'd been so prompt today. He strolled in quickly, but stopped still when he noticed me sat behind the desk in his mini-reception.

"Ah, Ellen." He said by a way of greeting, he seemed momentarily surprised to see me as if he'd forgotten that he told me to be here. He grasped his blue tie, straightening it so it covered the trail of buttons on his white shirt. The motion drew my attention to his freshly shaved throat, his Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed.

"It's Elena, Sir." I corrected, dragging my gaze from his neck. I'm not sure I'd last all week if he kept calling me that.

"Sure, whatever," he shrugged, brushing it off. "Listen, so I'm going to need a daily report on everything that's happening at the Vegas opening, I need an updated starter pack for the new assistant, you need to rally around and acquire all the finished contracts for the new Miami construction-" I should be writing this down I thought, frantically grabbing the first piece of paper I could find and a pen, I started scribbling down everything he reeled off whilst he stood there looking like he was bored. He continued to list tasks but my hand writing was not fast enough to keep up and I missed something he said.

"What was-"

"-You'll also need to collect the story boards from marketing for the Viper campaign and get them to me by the end of the day." The second he'd finished talking he sauntered off towards his office and let the door click shit behind him without casting me a second glance. Fuck, what were any of the things that he just said?

I had to spend ten minutes deciphering everything he had just reeled off to me and when I felt confident enough, I anxiously got to work. Time seemed to be flying by way too quickly and soon enough Damon was back with yet another chore. He exited his office, carrying a booklet in his hand, stopping in front of my desk, he let the papers fall from his hand to land with a smack on the glossy wood.

"I need you to make ten copies of this and bind them all."

"Ok," I murmured picking up the papers and flicking through them, it was about thirty pages long.

"I need them for my 11am meeting," he said inspecting the Rolex on his wrist.

"What, today?"

"Yes," he sighed, rolling his eyes like it was an obvious question.

I checked the digital clock on my computer screen, looking back up to him in confusion. "It's 10:38..."

"Well then I suggest you bind quickly." He looked me in the eyes deeply, resting both hands on the edge of the desk and leaning over me slightly. He held the position for a few seconds, declaring his authority before pushing himself off and strolling back into his den.

Great, so I now had twenty minutes to copy and print 300 pages which were already bound together, which meant having to individually scan each page manually, and then I needed to separate the piles and bind them. Was he crazy?

I shot up immediately and powerwalked to the copy room which inconveniently was the other side of the office. When I entered the tiny closet three people already stood in line waiting with papers in their arms. _Perfect._

I stood there tapping my foot impatiently for what felt like forever, the guy in front of me shot me an irritated look over his shoulder but I couldn't give a fuck as long as he took the message and hurried up.

"Hey, Elena!" April's chirpy voice came from behind me and I twisted myself to see her smiling at me enthusiastically. I loved April, but I didn't have time for light chit-chat at the moment.

"Hey," I muttered, shooting the slow guy in front an impatient look.

"What's up?" She looked genuinely concerned.

"I have now," I checked my watch again, "Eight minutes to copy and bind this thirty times before Damon's meeting."

"What? Is that even possible?" She asked scrunching up her nose.

"Nope." The slow guy finally finished what he was doing. "Eventually," I announced as he walked by me and I flung myself at the machine. I copied like a mad woman as April sat on her hands and knees helping me sort the pages as soon as they shot out the copier, somehow together we had thirty copies done and headed towards the boardroom where Damon was by 11:04.

I could see people sat around the huge table through the frosted glass of the door and knew that the meeting was already in progress, I tapped lightly on the door and slipped into the room, placing the files silently in front of Damon. The room had gone quiet since I entered and I was very aware of my heavy breathing from the exertion of binding paper in a tiny, sweaty closet. He snatched a booklet off the top of the pile, muttering something under his breath and I took that as my cue to leave.

"Sorry about that." I heard him say to the room as the door swung shut behind me.

A couple of hours later, Damon had finished his meeting and was now back in his office working at his computer. I was yet to have lunch since I'd been so tied up in the ridiculous amounts of work that Damon had demanded from me, and I was a pretty irritable due to the whimpers of hunger my belly made. Just as I decided that I couldn't go without food any longer and was preparing to run out to a deli, the intercom to Damon's office buzzed and his authoritative voice drawled out of the speakers. "Ellen, come in here."

I sighed in frustration, standing from my seat I smoothed down my hair and dress before making my way into his lair.

"I need coffee," he said simply as soon as I entered, never removing his focus from the computer screen in front of him.

"Ok. How do you like it?" I watched as a smirk spread across his lips, he raised his gaze up to my face and wiggled his brows suggestively. My face must have portrayed my lack of amusement, because after a moment he let the flirtatious look on his face fall.

"Double shot with a dash of milk," he told me, returning his attention to his work again.

I nodded and made my way to the kitchen to prepare his drink, I took the opportunity to go to the bathroom and grab a coffee for myself too. I carried the hot drinks back through the office, placing one next to my computer before taking Damon's and placing it in front of him on his polished desk.

He glanced at the steaming liquid and sat back slightly in his chair, the expensive leather creaking in the quietness of the room. "That's too much milk."

"You haven't even tried it." I said with a bitter edge to my voice.

"I can tell." He looked me dead in the eye, silently challenging me to say something else. I held his stare for a few seconds and then grabbed the steaming coffee cup up off of his desk, not bothering to hide my bitchy attitude as I traipsed out of his office and back to the kitchen.

As I stood brewing Damon's coffee for the second time in the past five minutes I tried to calm myself down. Four more days. Four more days and then I was free. I could do this. I added his 'dash' of milk and made my way back to his office. Putting his cup down in front of him, I watched as he glanced at it, I thought I saw him roll his eyes slightly but he didn't comment further on the coffee to milk ratio.

"Don't forget that you have a meeting with PR in half an hour about your Vegas press statement." I told him, my voice coming out clipped.

"I didn't forget," he said, looking up at me and meeting my stare again. Why did it feel like everything he said to me was a challenge? It was almost as if he wanted an argument from me, but I refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he pissing me off. I decided then and there not let him know how much he was getting under my skin, obviously trying to make me frustrated was some sort of game to him, and it wasn't one that I was about to let him win. Two could play at that game, Salvatore.

Tuesday morning I made it into work early, which wasn't an issue seeing as I still had trouble sleeping. I took a detour to the dry cleaners to pick up Damon's suit which he requested that I pick up for him, not that he gave any reason as to why he couldn't do it himself. I got to work at about 8:30 and got straight to it, getting a head start on the extensive list of tasks that Damon had given me the day before. Only fifteen minutes after I had arrived, Damon strolled into our waiting area, he wore a grey suit today, which was different to his usual choice of black, and his hair was slightly damp, most likely from his morning shower. He looked good with his hair like that. Really good.

"Morning, Mr Salvatore," he didn't return my welcome. "I picked up your suit, it's hanging in your office and there's a fresh coffee in there for you. The new Miami contracts are on your desk and I need your credit statement from last week to send through to accounting." He didn't give any indication that he'd heard anything I'd said, keeping his eyes on whatever he was typing into his phone as he walked past me. "Don't forget you have a teleconference at 11 o'clock," I called out as he stepped over the threshold to his office.

He turned in the doorway, removing his focus from the iPhone in his hand to look up at me. "I didn't forget." He told me, giving me that challenging stare again before letting the door swing shut behind him.

Later that day, Damon had insisted that I sit through his three hour long, mind-numbing teleconference and take 'detailed' minutes to then write up a 'detailed' report. I sat on an armchair in the corner of his office out of sight of the camera which was poised at Damon as he sat behind his desk. The unnecessarily large flat screen on the wall showed a slightly overweight balding, middle-aged man in a suit which was too big for him, sat behind a pristine glass table.

The guy had a deep raspy voice, but not in the good way, as in the way someone sounds when they've smoked way too many cigarettes throughout their life. Damon's smooth drawl that followed sounded like an angel in comparison. Looking from the man on the screen to Damon, in his expensive tailored suit, dark hair falling effortlessly across his forehead, lounging in his large chair like he was posing for a photo-shoot looked like perfection in comparison too, and I was momentarily distracted by the flawless image in front of me.

"He says that he's willing to buy for one billion." Old Guy rasped, snapping me out of my perversion and pay attention to the conversation.

"He can't be serious," Damon retorted, "That place makes at least double that a year, there's no way I'm selling an establishment that's that profitable." _Jesus_, they were only discussing one Salvatore & co. hotel. And from what I understood it wasn't one of the major ones, it was in Atlantic City and had a bar, restaurant and casino but still, _billions?_ I knew that Damon Salvatore would be well off, but it hadn't really occurred to me just how wealthy he was until now. Obviously he ran an empire with those profits but the Salvatores owned so much that there was no doubt that it was only a small contribution to their fortune.

I spent the following hour typing up all Damon's 'detailed' notes from his meeting and turning them into the report that he'd requested. I took it through to him with another fresh coffee, placing them both down on the edge of his desk.

"What's this?" He asked, grabbing the coffee and nodding towards the papers I'd put down.

"The report of your minutes? From the meeting?" I said with a slight edge to my voice.

"Oh right, I probably won't need those, I have the recording." _Was he shitting me? _I sat through a three hour meeting and spent an hour typing notes for something he didn't even need? God, I hated him. He casually sipped at his coffee and looked between me and the door expectantly, silently telling me to leave. I made sure to slam the door harder than usual on my way out.

Throughout the rest of the week Damon continued to burden me with way too much work to handle and continued to be a complete asshole, treating me like a moron who didn't know what they were doing. My remaining days working for the dark side blurred together into one long never-ending day, so by the time Friday came around I was basically crying with joy at the thought of never working for Damon Salvatore again.

"Is there anything else you need before I take off?" I asked him out of politeness rather than actual concern. He glanced up at me from whatever he was typing before looking back to his computer screen.

"Yeah, you can proof read these Viper files." He said, pushing a stack of papers about three inches high over to my side of the desk. He had to be kidding, that would take me hours to read through.

"It's 5:30," I pointed out.

"And?"

"It's Friday. I have come in early, worked through lunch and stayed late every day this week." My tone was beginning to come out bitchy.

"Well, maybe if you had worked quicker then you wouldn't have needed to." He said looking up at me with a determined stare. The asshole was actually trying to piss me off. Suddenly all the emotion I'd been holding in for the past week bubbled to the surface and I couldn't bite my tongue any longer.

"_Are you serious?_ I have done about a month's work this past week and the majority of everything I've done for you has been completely pointless. I mean, what the hell is all this, punishment for not kissing you? Is this how you amuse yourself? Because if it is then you seriously need to grow up." Once the words hurtled out of my mouth I couldn't seem to stop them, my voice pitching the more I went on.

"I mean, can you blame me for running away from you? You have absolutely no respect for anybody and if this is how you treat people, then you need to take a long hard look in the mirror. Just because someone is beneath you in your stupid corporate hierarchy does not mean that they are beneath you in life and as a person. _God_, how Andie lasted three years I will never know, and I pray for the new starter on Monday who has now effectively signed their life away to be the personal slave of a complete and total jackass."

After my outburst, I stood with my hands rested on my hips, breathing heavily, my chest visibly bouncing, I knew that my cheeks would be red from the adrenaline rush I had just experienced. God, that felt good. I'm sure Damon had never had anyone speak like that to him before in his life and he was probably about to fire me, but right now I couldn't care less, he'd probably be doing me a favour. Damon was still sat back in his chair staring at me with a look of shock on his face. He brought his hand up to his face, covering his mouth and stroking over his 5 o'clock shadow which caused him to pull on his bottom lip slightly. Dammit, how could he still look so good when I was this pissed at him? His expression of surprise quickly turned into an amused smirk and I could tell he was trying to hold back laughter. Okay, now I was the one who was shocked, he was actually laughing at me? I gave him a confused look, raising my brow at him and waiting for him to tell me what he was thinking.

"You're sexy when you're mad," he said eventually.

"WHAT?" That was not the reaction I was expecting from him.

"Let's go and get a drink." He said casually, standing up from his chair.

"Excuse me?"

"You're mad. You need to unwind and I'm taking you for a drink." He had taken his black jacket off the coat rack and was currently slipping it on over his broad shoulders.

"I think this is bordering on workplace harassment, Mr Salvatore."

"It's not harassment, I'm just asking you a question."

"And called me sexy," I pointed out.

"And saying that you look sexy, yes. Can't I compliment my own assistant?"

"I am not your assistant."

"Then we don't have a problem." He started to slowly walk in my direction.

"I don't think that it would be a very good idea, Mr Salvatore."

"Why not?"

"It's inappropriate!" I was starting to get uncomfortable now, did he seriously think I would just go with him?

"That didn't stop you before," he smirked, raising his brow suggestively and doing that eye thing that he does.

"You're my boss!"

"Exactly, who's pissed you off all week, and now I want to redeem myself and take you out for a drink." By this point he was standing right in front of me, looking down and forcing eye contact from me.

"You're not even my boss, you're my boss's boss," I mumbled. In such close proximity I suddenly wasn't as confident as I had been before.

"And as your boss's boss I am telling you that we're going for a drink. Now get your purse."

He walked to the door and held open for me. I stood for a few seconds trying to process what had just happened. Had he really just managed to talk me into going for drink with him? I walked past him, ignoring his smug face and shut down the computer, grabbing my purse from underneath the desk, I scurried after Damon as he headed towards the elevators.

He took me to a bar just around the corner that I'd never been to before called Owen's. Even though it was still early the place was already packed, lots of well-dressed business men in suits sat around in groups talking loudly. The place was modern, all black and white with glass tables and twinkly lighting, I could tell before we got to the bar that the drinks would be expensive. After ordering me a large glass of white wine and a beer for himself, Damon ushered me to one of the few free tables left in the centre of the room. He took a seat opposite me as I began to sip my wine and shrugged his suit jacket off, hooking it on the back of his chair and loosening his tie and the top couple of buttons on his dark shirt. He ran a hand through his onyx hair, ruffling it with his fingers so that it looked like he had just rolled out of bed. He saw me staring and I saw a hint of a smirk as he brought his beer bottle to his lips.

"You know, if that drink doesn't work, I know another way we could blow off steam." He raised his brow at me suggestively and I saw his gaze flicker down to my cleavage for a second. My jaw dropped at his unabashed suggestion.

"Oh my god, is there a woman in New York that you haven't hit on?" I took a large gulp of my wine, giving him a disgusted look. He just looked amused again.

"Why do you assume I come on to all women?" He rested both elbows on the small table and leant forward.

"It's just in your nature."

"What, to be seductive?"

"To be flirtatious and hell bent on getting sex." I copied his pose, leaning towards him on my elbows. I had to let him know that he couldn't intimidate me, no doubt he expected me to fall at his feet as soon as he suggested sex.

"You don't think that women hit on me?" He asked, raising a brow.

"That's not what I meant, I'm sure most girls hit on you."

"Like you."

"I did not hit on you, if I recall you asked me to dance." I countered.

"Yes, but you were the one rubbing your ass on my crotch."

"Oh god!" I cringed. "Look, I'm sorry, we can't dance like that again."

"Why not?" He asked casually, bringing his beer to his lips again.

"You're my boss."

"Plenty of my employees hit on me."

"Like Andie?" I questioned, I had my suspicions that he'd screwed Andie, both physically and emotionally, but I wasn't sure.

"Like Andie, amongst others." He shrugged it off, like it was no big deal.

"Well I'm not interested."

"Why?"

"You're an ass."

"True, doesn't mean that you don't want to _see_ my ass." He was smirking at me again, clearly he was enjoying this.

"How can you be so cocky?" I scowled at him.

"Am I wrong?"

"Yes."

"So you don't want to see my ass?"

"No."

"Yeah, right." He scoffed, rolling his eyes and taking a sip of his beer. His assumption of my lust for him was really starting to get under my skin now.

"God, is it so hard to believe that there's someone that doesn't want to sleep with you?"

"When that someone is you, yes." I rolled my eyes at that and took another mouthful of my wine. "Look," he leant even further forward over the table. "I'm used to being wanted, as arrogant as it may be, it's what I've found to be true. But _you_, you seem to hate me. Usually women only hate me after they've slept with me."

"Why, are you bad in bed?" I sneered.

His smirk widened at my come back. "Why don't you find out?"

"Ugh." I fell back in my chair and brought my wine to my lips again, I'd almost drank the entire glass already.

"After the way you reacted to me the other week you can see why I'm having trouble understanding why this isn't something you're tempted by." He had a point there, after my wanton behaviour two weeks ago I couldn't really blame him for assuming that I'd want to sleep with him. Frankly, there was no polite way to tell him that the reason I was grinding against him was to make his brother jealous, especially not after I'd told him that I wasn't interested because we worked together.

"I was very drunk, I was having a bad night and I wasn't myself. You shouldn't take it personally." He didn't look convinced. "Also, you've been a complete asshole to me all week and you think that one drink is enough to erase all that?"

"No, but I'm thinking a few orgasms might." He didn't smirk this time and I knew he was being completely serious.

"Ok, this really is sexual harassment now," I said shaking my head, he was unbelievable. "Do you really think it's appropriate to speak to your employees like this?"

"Do you really think it makes a difference to my professional life if I fuck my brother's assistant?"

"Gee thanks," I deadpanned.

"It may not be pretty, but at least I'm being honest. Us hooking up wouldn't exactly cause any foreseeable issues for me."

"Stop talking about me like I'm one of your business transactions!"

"What do you want me to say? I don't usually have to try this hard. You want to be seduced?" I could tell he was starting to get frustrated now, clearly he'd never been turned down for sex in his life.

"I would like to think that I'm worth more than a few crude, derogatory lines." I was frustrated too.

"You're right, you are. Unfortunately, I don't have the patience or desire to be in a relationship."

"And I'm not a one night stand sort of girl. So I guess we're done here." I drained the rest of my glass and stood up, hooking my purse over my shoulder.

"We're not finished talking yet." He looked surprised that I was actually leaving.

"Yes, we are. I'm clearly just a challenge to you." I turned from the table and took a step towards the exit.

"It's not just that." He called, making me stop in my tracks and turn back to face him again.

"What then?" I asked impatiently.

"You're…" His eyes darted around the room as if it would make the right words come to him. "Different," was the word he eventually settled on. What was that supposed to mean?

"Different how?"

"I don't know, I haven't worked it out yet."

"Well, get back to me on that." I turned to leave again, this time he didn't say anything to stop me.

* * *

**Hey pals! I received some absolutely awesome reviews last chapter so I want to give big kisses to everyone who left lovely messages :) Also to those of you serial reviewers, I do notice and thank you so much for your continuous support 3 **

**I'm not sure how quickly I'll be able to update the next couple of chapters as my parents are coming to visit me this week, then we're going to visit my brother, then I'm going to lie on a beach in the Algarve for 8 days and then when I come back it's freshers week (**_**again).**_** So I'm going to be pretty strapped for time to write, but I'm going to try my best because I'm really excited about the next couple of chapters.**

**Also, this is unrelated – BUT I have just read the 7****th**** (and probably final) book in the Kathleen Turner series by Tiffany Snow, and I need some people to fangirl about it with. I would **_**strongly**_** recommend that everyone who reads M-rated Vampire Diaries fanfiction reads them as the plot is about a love triangle between two brothers, one of which is based on Ian Somerhalder's portrayal of Damon Salvatore (no joke). Even some of the lines you think 'that's so a TVD quote'. So, I kind of portray the series as a TVD fic and they are hands down the best series of books I've ever read. So yeah, unrelated to this chapter but if anyone has or does read them let me know!**

**Sorry about the ridiculously long AN. See you lovelies soon (hopefully).**

**Pippa x**


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